It’s not that the actual interaction is hard, it’s just that they’re so… godawful stupid.
Just… the things they do/say make no sense to me, whatsoever. For the most part I understand that younger people (high school, middle school, etc) are going to brag about things they did that make them seem “cooler”. Well, alright. That makes sense, I’m sure. But… the things that they brag about are inexplicable.
- drinking/partying
- sex
- drugs they’ve done
- mental instability
- Self-harm/suicide/etc
Like, what? I think I missed something when I was a teeny-bopper. When I was 13, it wasn’t really “cool” to have “depression”. Or rather, more accurately - being a conceited prick and feeling sad because you didn’t get your way and labeling it as chronic depression. Like, ok. I’ll bite. I know that it happens (depression, that is), but not every break up causes it… and it’s kind of sad for the upcoming generation that they can’t tell the difference between a minor problem and a major one. Not that I’m suggesting that depression is the solution or anything, but sometimes it’s a natural occurrence and I’d be somewhat more concerned if it didn’t appear. But, I digress on the matter. I just find it weird that kids talk about it as if it’s nothing… it’s not nothing and exaggerating it to seem “cool” is even weirder.
Even more obscure is the casual talk (more or less bragging) about the self harm that kids do to themselves. If they’re talking about it, it’s like… uhm, no. You’re trying to get attention. Stop. You’re fucking stupid. From what I gather on the subject, it’s something that people generally want to hide and they’re ashamed. They don’t walk around with short sleeves flashing their sliced up wrist for the world to see begging for sympathy. Sure, ok. I’ll bite again. They may trust someone enough to tell them just to get some of the load of it off of themselves… but that’s different. Also, same goes for when people do it in public.
I had a girl in one of my classes freshman year who would sit at the table with me and cut her arm up with a pair of scissors. I had also seen her carve things into her arms and legs with a safety pin. It never made sense to me and I thought she was not only the most idiotic person I had ever met, but also the most unattractive for her behavior.
As strange as it seems, the bragging about drinking, partying, drugs, etc makes the most sense. All kids do that, to some degree. Guys always brag about sex no matter what age. However, the whole DUDE! I got SO wasted last night! goes out of style once you’re out of high school. After that, you’re just immature and you have to grow up. You’re not the first person to smoke/drink/take ecstasy so, stop acting like it. No one is impressed by your “rebel” behavior. Being the “party kid” doesn’t make you “cool” anymore. Being the “party kid” makes you just like everyone else. Once again, I digress.
So, the point I come back to… is that I don’t understand why teeny-boppers brag/talk highly about certain things. It seems… detrimental to the functionality of these kids when they grow up into adults. I can’t even imagine a 35 year old scene kid with a family… it seems fucked up.
Oh, on the subject of “scene kids” I’m going to do a short segue to the trend that is assigning a label to oneself.
I remember back when no one wanted to be labeled and yet, everyone got a label anyway. But now… kids seem to give themselves a label. Scene, emo, prep, hipster, hardcore, indie, etc. It’s so bizarre. And, what is even more bizarre… they all accuse one another of being “fake” or of being “poseurs”.
Maybe I’m just clueless, but I don’t get this conclusion. How can one tell who is fake and who is not? What is fake? What is real?
For example, everyone always accuses the supposed “plastics” (preps, populars, pretties, whatever you want to call them) of being fake, however, I’d like to present the point that they’re actually the realest teeny-bopper demographic that survives in society.
They know that they’re bitches. They know that they judge people. They don’t act any differently. Sure, they put on a shiny, happy exterior, but so does 95% of the population (the exception being scenesters and emos who try to look as miserable as possible). They all know that they’re just like every other “plastic”. The, shall we say, “alternative” kids are the strange ones who act, by my definition, “fake”. These are the people who deliberately do things to be different or to stick out and “rebel” against “conformity” and “authority”; ie coloring their hair bright colors, crazy make up, strange garb, music choice, etc. They aren’t doing things that are what they are. They’re doing things that they think will make them different… and by doing that, they all do the same thing and become a cookie cutter and thus… become “plastic”. “Alternative” kids are just as fake as (if not more than) the “plastics” who they condemn.
The labeling is semi-ridiculous, but they do it to themselves, so it’s difficult to have any sympathy for them… and quite easy to have sympathy for ourselves and their children. Both groups will live in a world ruled by these obscure label mongers.
Anyway, that kind of wraps up the whole idea of how teeny-boppers will be the death of me and interacting with them is one of the hardest things I will ever do. I suppose the hardest part is being able to hold a conversation with one for more than 10 minutes without wanting to strangle myself with a bar of soap. Though, the conversation could extend 10 minutes while I entertain myself with how that feat could be accomplished.
And now I’m done typing, ok.
